The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salman, and the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, met today for the first time since both countries normalized their relations last March on the sidelines of the Arab-Islamic summit held in Riyadh to discuss the war in Gaza.
Both leaders held a closed-door meeting, according to the official Saudi news agency SPA, which published a photo of Bin Salmán and Raisi during the meeting.
The Iranian president's office, for its part, indicated in a statement that during the meeting "the development of bilateral relations and regional cooperation" were discussed, matters that they agreed to discuss "in detail in the future", without giving further details.
According to SPA, on the sidelines of the summit held in Riyadh to address the war in the Gaza Strip, the Saudi crown prince also met with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Palestinian, Mahmoud Abbas.
Raisí, for his part, met with the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to SPA.
Bin Salman and Raisi already shook hands and exchanged a few words before the start of the Arab-Islamic summit, which was attended by dozens of Arab heads of state and Muslim-majority countries to condemn Israel's attacks on Gaza and debate the regional repercussions of the conflict.
This is the first visit to Saudi Arabia by an Iranian leader in 11 years and comes after both countries normalized relations last March.
Iran and Saudi Arabia, rival countries that lead Shiite and Sunni Islam in the Middle East, agreed in March with Chinese mediation to normalize their diplomatic relations, broken since 2016, and have since reopened their respective embassies.
"Neither Israel nor all countries in the region will enjoy peace and security" if an independent Palestinian state is not established, said today the 57 Arab and Muslim-majority countries that participated in the Riyadh summit to address the war in Gaza and its repercussions.
"We affirm that neither Israel nor any of the countries in the region will enjoy security and peace without the Palestinians enjoying it and recovering all their plundered rights," indicates the final draft resolution of the summit.
The document also holds the Jewish State responsible for "the continuity of the conflict and its worsening," and considered Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories "a threat to regional and international security and stability."
